


Soul Companion

by notadamsel37



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, F/M, Female Friendship, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, no beta we die like men, tropey goodness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21794437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notadamsel37/pseuds/notadamsel37
Summary: These are the chances, a life's incantationsThese are the places that don't know our names---(In every step of their lives, they have always belonged to one another.)
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Edward Elric & Trisha Elric, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Trisha Elric & Sara Rockbell
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. Trisha

Trisha considered herself the luckiest woman in the world. Her husband might have thought differently, but she was firm in her opinion. It didn’t matter that Hohenheim thought he was a monster. He had given her a beautiful son, and now she sat in Sara’s exam room, another baby on the way. No monster was capable of creating something as perfect as her son and her unborn child.

Sara was just finishing up her exam. It was quite convenient to have a doctor so close by to keep an eye on the baby. Her pregnancy with Edward hadn’t been the easiest, so her mind was eased knowing that both she and her child would be closely watched. 

“Everything looks great,” Sara was saying. “We’ll make sure to keep an eye on your blood pressure as you get farther along, but it looks like you’ve got a perfectly healthy baby on the way.” She smiled at Trisha. “From what you’ve been telling me, it seems like this one is already a lot easier than Edward. Not as much morning sickness or dizziness this time around?”

Trisha scooted off the edge of the exam table and sat in a nearby chair. “No, and thank goodness for that! Hohenheim was nearly beside himself with how sick I was, and kept looking for some magical cure for pregnancy through alchemy.” Trisha rolled her eyes thinking of the days that Hohenheim wouldn’t even try to get any sleep. 

He had really only calmed down once Pinako had hit him upside the head and told him that, while his spawn was certainly going to end up as a hellraiser, both baby and mother would be perfectly fine. 

Sara chuckled. “Yeah, it’s called giving birth. Men just get so frantic when there’s nothing for them to do. Winry was super easy, and it still felt like Urey was going nuts every time something new happened.”

Trisha thought back to the late nights and early mornings she had spent curled up on the bathroom floor, knowing that the minute she tried to get back to bed she would be heaving again. She thought of the dizzy spells that would overtake her when she stood for too long. She thought of the pain in her hips that left her unable to get comfortable no matter what she did. Through it all, her husband had never left her side.

She was pulled out of her reverie by Sara speaking up again. “Personally, I’m just excited that Winry is going to have more than one friend as she gets older. She’s only six months old, but she’s already so attached to Edward.”

Trisha smiled at the thought. Edward and Winry were practically always together, with how much she watched them when Winry’s parents were both working. “It would be nice, to have our families be friends for generations.”

“Trisha, with how much time we spend together, and our kids growing up side by side, I think we’re already there!” She turned and started to clean off the exam table, putting away her stethoscope and throwing the sheets into a nearby basket. 

Trisha stared off into space, thinking once again about an idea that had been plaguing her for a few weeks. 

Sara noticed the blank look on her face. “Thinking deep thoughts over there, Trish?”

“I wonder sometimes, about things like fate and destiny. With how perfectly we all get along, how we fit together like puzzle pieces, do you think we were all meant to be in each other’s lives?” 

Sara looked at her with skepticism clear on her face. “Yeah, those are definitely some deep thoughts. Fate and destiny? What’s gotten into you?”

“I’m serious! Think about it for a second. Pinako and Hohenheim met at a bar long before either of us were born. She introduced him to me, and you married Urey, and both of us had children at the same time. You think all of those events happening were just people being in the right place at the right time? Don’t you think that the stars had to align, and everything had to be just right for everything to turn out the way it did?”

Sara sighed, and then looked up, as if pleading with the heavens to give her strength. “I think that I don’t know why my life or your life or anybody else’s life turned out the way they did, and that I’m never going to know, either.” She crouched in front of her friend. “Why waste time thinking about why I met you when I could spend time enjoying the fact that I did.”

Trisha looked down and placed a hand over her belly where her child was growing. “I suppose you’re right. No use thinking about a question that I’ll never find the answer to.”

“Hey, you’re pregnant. You’re allowed to ponder deep questions about the meaning of life for a while if you want to.” Standing up once more, Sara stretched her arms over her head to pop her back, making Trisha wince at the cracking noise it made. “Meanwhile, I’ll be over here thinking about how long it’ll take before Edward and Winry get married.” Trisha looked at her in shock, unable to think of a reasonable response. Their babies, getting married?

“I have a feeling that, with how much time they already spend together, they’ll get married sooner rather than later.” She finished cleaning up the exam table and washed her hands. She helped Trisha stand from the chair she was sitting in before putting her hands onto her hips. “You know what, I’m willing to bet on it! One week of homemade dinners says those kids tie the knot before I hit forty!”

“Sara, they’re still infants! How can you be so sure of something so far in the future?”

“Perhaps it’s destiny.” She winked at Trisha. 

“You’re turning into Pinako with all that sass. Well, smarty pants, how about the fact that if they get married before you turn forty, that would mean they wouldn’t even be twenty yet?”

“Oh, please, Trisha. I was married before I was twenty. You already had Edward on the way before you married Hohenheim. It’s not like getting married young is uncommon.”

“I can’t help it,” Trisha sighed. “They’re just babies. I don’t want to think about them growing up even a little bit.” She saw Sara rolling her eyes at her. “Oh, don’t act like you want Winry to grow up so soon.”

“I’m not acting like that. But those babies aren’t going to be babies forever. And I like the idea of being related to you and Hohenheim, even if it’s distantly.” Trisha turned her head away, crossing her arms. “Come on, Trisha. You aren’t going to feel like this forever. This is just the baby hormones messing with you.”

It was Trisha’s turn to roll her eyes. “Oh, alright. I’ll go ahead and say they’ll get married after you turn forty, then. When will you be paying up?”

“ _If_ I pay up, how about the week after I turn forty? But if I win, the week after the wedding you’ll be feeding me dinner every night.”

Trisha shook her head at her friend. “Okay, I’ll take you up on that. But if I win, I’m getting at least one batch of Pinako’s stew.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” She held out her hand, and Trisha shook it. “Now come on, I’m sure Edward is looking for you by now.”

Trisha smiled, thinking of her son, and made her way into the living room where Edward was. True to form, his face lit up when she walked in, his smile taking over his face. There were a few teeth starting to peek through his gums, making him even more adorable. 

As she went to pick up her son, she thought for a moment about what it would be like, to see her son get married. He certainly seemed to love Winry, even as an infant, and Trisha thought it would be nice to have them spend their whole lives together.

But for now, she would enjoy holding her baby in her arms while she still could.


	2. Alphonse

His mother had always said that love was very powerful. Al had always known that she was right, but he hadn’t thought that love would give his brother the power of being the most obnoxious person in the whole world. 

Edward has always been a bit arrogant, and he didn’t get along with most people. It was part of the reason that Al tried to be as kind to others as possible. He hoped that maybe if he showed his brother how being nice got you better results than being bratty, maybe Edward would change his habits. Nothing had changed, but Al wasn’t giving up yet. 

“Take it back, Edward!”

He still had hope.

“No way!”

One day, Edward was going to be polite.

“You can’t say things like that!”

He had to believe it.

“Can too!”

“Fine!” Winry threw her arms in the air. “If that’s what you wanna think, go ahead! But then I’m not talking to you!”

Al saw on Ed’s face the moment he realized this wasn’t going his way. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened as he tried to think of a way to fix this. 

However, Winry was probably as stubborn as the two of them put together ten times over, so the Elric brothers watched as she stormed off down the road to the Rockbell home.

“Nice going, brother,” Al muttered under his breath. Ed whipped around to face him.

“Hey, that wasn’t my fault! She was being unreasonable, go blame her for leaving!” 

Al put his hands up in surrender, but rolled his eyes at his brother’s explanation. “You flat out told her that you and I were smarter than any other kids in the country. Including her. I wouldn’t really call her reaction to that unreasonable.”

“But we are smarter Al!” Ed started to wave his arms in the air, trying to get his point across. “We’re alchemists! We can do all the things they’re teaching us in school in our sleep!”

“Just because you think it might be true doesn’t give you an excuse to say something so rude. I think it would have been smarter to keep your mouth shut.”

“Oh, whatever, Al! Take her side if you really want to, but you know I’m right deep down!”

Al closed his eyes and took a deep breath, praying for patience. He decided to let the matter drop and changed the subject. 

“Let’s get going, mom wanted us to pick up those groceries she ordered on the way home from school.”

At the mention of their mother, Ed seemed to deflate. No longer on the defensive, he nodded solemnly, and the two brothers set off for their errands. They walked in silence for a while before Ed spoke up again. 

“Hey Al? I’ve got a question for you.”

“Sure, Brother, what is it?”

“Do you think I’m arrogant?”

“Yes.” Al didn’t even have to think about it. 

Ed looked put off. “You could’ve hesitated at least a little bit.”

“But I didn’t need to.”

“Ugh, fine, so you think I’m arrogant. Do you think people like me?”

“I would guess that most people don’t. Because you’re so arrogant.”

“Okay, whatever. But I have another question for you.”

“That seems to be the premise of this whole conversation.”

Ed seemed to be debating with himself, and once again Al thanked his lucky stars that he had been born with his mother’s patience. If he hadn’t, he would have found all of his brother’s antics to be extremely annoying. 

“Look, I know this is gonna sound weird, but I want your honest opinion.”

“Then I’ll give you my honest opinion. But first I need you to _ask the question_.” Was he imagining things, or was Ed blushing?

“Do you like Winry?”

Al furrowed his brow in confusion. “Yeah, sure. She’s fun to play with, she’s smart, she’s our friend. Why, do you not like her?”

“She’s one of the few people who puts up with me, of course I like her. I’m not stupid. I wanted to know if it was just me or if other people liked her too.”

He looked at Ed suspiciously. “I think a lot of people like her. Unlike you, she gets along with almost everyone at school. But you already knew that.” Ed refused to meet Al’s eyes, looking at the ground instead. That was _absolutely_ a blush on his cheeks. Al had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“Hey, some people like me just fine! But that doesn’t matter. Do you _like_ Winry, Al? You gotta be honest!”

“Yes, we just established that.”

“Sure but do you _like_ like her?”

_Don’t tell me..._

“Are you asking if I have a crush on her?” 

Ed nodded, still not looking at him.

_Oh boy, here we go_ , Al thought to himself. While he always knew that one day he and his brother were going to have to talk about Winry and crushes, he didn’t think it would be while they were both still so young. Al sighed and looked heavenwards, praying that whatever deity was up there would give him the strength to get through the rest of this conversation. 

There were a few ways for him to proceed. First was the option to tell the truth, say he didn’t have a crush on Winry, and quickly end the conversation. It was the option that Ed would like the most, dispelling his fears and returning to normalcy in one fell swoop. But it would leave Al unsatisfied and without a solid answer to his theories. 

Second was the more painful option. To confirm that he didn’t have a crush on Winry, and then try to squeeze Ed for more information about why it mattered. That was undoubtedly going to be unpleasant for both of them. Ed, because he avoided feelings like they had the flu. Al, because nothing diminished his level of patience faster than his brother being combative and avoidant.

Which made Al think that option number three was the best. It wasn’t the kindest option, or even the least frustrating one. But it was probably the most direct. Besides, since it seemed Edward was never going to change his attitude to be more like Al, perhaps it was time for Al to act more like Edward. 

So he was going to _lie_. 

“What if I did? Would you have a problem with me having a crush on her?” he said defensively. 

For a split second, Ed looked absolutely horrified, as if all of his worst fears had been confirmed. Al felt awful for deceiving his brother, but he knew it was the best way to get Ed to recognize his feelings for Winry. 

Al blinked, and Ed’s expression changed from horror to determination. “Yeah, I do have a problem with it! Since she’s our friend, we’re supposed to protect her from other boys.”

“Oh, and now you’re going to protect her from me?”

“Yes I am! Let’s spar Al. If I win, then you have to give up on your little crush on her, and go back to thinking of her just as a friend.”

Al thought for a second, debating the best way to respond. In all their years of fighting against one another, Ed had never won. So what would his condition be when Ed lost?

“Fine. But if I win, I’m going to ask her to marry me.” That should do it. He was certain that Winry would think it was a joke, but this would give Edward a firm kick in the butt.

Ed must have been pretty confident this time, because he didn’t protest Al’s condition whatsoever. “You’re on, little brother!” he said with a grin. “So let’s get going so we can settle this before it gets dark out!”

Al hoped that this meant Ed was finally acknowledging his feelings for Winry, and sent up a quick little prayer of gratitude towards whoever was listening. It was probably too early to start planning a wedding for his brother, but he knew that one day, he would do it anyway. 

He couldn’t wait. 

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
